Ponies in the Abbey: Fluttershy's Adventure
by MadFordpetal8
Summary: During a magical journey to Redwall, Fluttershy volunteers to help with the Dibbuns. But her good deed doesn't turn out quite the way everybeast wanted it to...
1. Chapter 1

**Author's note (2/22/2018): I've only recently become a member of the My Little Pony fandom, and I must confess that I had only seen about 4 episodes of _Friendship Is Magic_ before I wrote this fanfic. I've seen all the Equestria Girls movies and most of the shorts (yes, I know, many MLP fans detest the EG, and vice versa. Please don't hate on me for liking both. Also, I try to respect both fandoms by listing them separately) that came out before February 2018, and the 2017 MLP movie. I've also read some MLP graphic novels and the prequel book to the MLP movie. So I do have an idea of how the characters in _FIM_ act, although it's not as good of an idea as I would like. So I apologize if the personalities of any of the ponies or of Spike don't quite match the way they are in the TV show. **

**I hope you enjoy the story!**

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"And these are the dormitories."

Fluttershy listened intently as the Abbess of Redwall swept her paws wide and explained what the purpose of the dormitories is and what they had been used for in the past. Glancing up at Princess Luna, who was standing beside her, the little yellow pony caught her smiling down at her. Blushing slightly, Fluttershy quickly looked back at the Abbess, hiding half of her face with the forelock of her pink mane.

A naturally timid pony, Fluttershy wasn't showing just how excited she was to be here at Redwall. For over a year, the 4 Princesses of Equestria, Celestia, Luna, Cadence, and Fluttershy's friend Twilight Sparkle, had been working on a secret project. No matter how hard the yellow Pegasus pony and her 4 friends had asked Twilight about it, the Princess had refused to tell them what the project was. But _finally_ the project had been finished, and Twilight was free to tell them that it was a magical portal that would allow the Princesses to communicate with and travel to other worlds. There was already a magic mirror that connected Equestria with a world that seemed full of strange copies of all the ponies in Fluttershy's world, but now there was a portal that led to other worlds, too.

Celestia used the new portal the most, and one of the first worlds that she had discovered was called Mossflower. It was a fascinating place, full of furry (and scaly) creatures who walked almost exclusively on 2 legs and had these strange things called fingers. However, they had no magic. Rarity, one of Fluttershy and Twilight's friends, had trouble imagining a world without magic, but the yellow and pink pony figured that their fingers took the place of magic. She had been hoping to meet some horses who have fingers, but was then disappointed when she learned that no horses had been seen for centuries in that world. It made Fluttershy sad to think that they may have gone extinct.

Celestia started communicating almost daily with the leader of an Abbey called Redwall. The 2 leaders really seemed to be becoming friends, and it wasn't long before the Abbess had invited the 4 Princesses to come for a visit. Cadence had to decline, but the other 3 agreed, with Twilight Sparkle insisting that her friends Spike, Fluttershy, Pinkie Pie, Rainbow Dash, Apple Jack, and Rarity had to be able to come along, too. Twilight had had the opportunity to travel to another world, following a Unicorn named Sunset Shimmer through the magic mirror after she had stolen Twilight's crown (which she was able to recover), and the Princess wanted her friends to have the opportunity to have an otherworldly adventure, too (although preferably without any dangers or uncontrollable magic ruining it).

Fortunately, the Abbess and Princesses Celestia and Luna had happily agreed, and so 8 pastel equids and one purple and green baby dragon had traveled through the portal and arrived at Redwall's gates, where they had been warmly greeted. After their luggage had been taken to the rooms they'd be staying in (Apple Jack giving a miffed Rarity a hard time about how she had twice as much luggage as everyone else), the Abbess had taken them on a tour of the Abbey. Over by the pond they had met the Champion, who was guided by the spirit of the Abbey's first Champion, Martin the Warrior. Rarity and Fluttershy had agreed that that was a frightening thought, but of course the almost-fearless Rainbow Dash had thought it was awesome. Sensing an eager listener, the Champion had offered to tell Rainbow more stories about Martin and the other Champions Redwall had had, and so, with the gracious permission of Celestia and the Abbess, the rainbow maned Pegasus and the Champion had gone up to the walltop to sit over the main gate.

In the orchards they had come across some Abbey mice, who were struggling with a heavy-laden cart. Apple Jack, always eager to help her fellow farmers, quickly ducked under the poles of the cart, braced her chest against the handlebar, and pushed as hard as she could. The mice cheered as the orange Earth Pony pulled the cart that was too heavy for them to move on their own. After getting permission from Celestia and the Abbess, Apple Jack stayed with the mice, helping them take the cart to the kitchen.

After touring the grounds, the Abbess had led the little party into Great Hall, where they stared in awe at a huge tapestry that had woven into its center the likeness of Martin the Warrior, co-founder and first Champion of Redwall. Rarity was especially impressed, so much so that she wrote herself a note to help her remember to talk to the creatures in charge of taking care of the tapestry and making others that adorned the Hall.

They had then all headed into the kitchen, which was in chaos as the Friar and his helpers were preparing for a feast that evening. The Abbess had explained that they always threw a feast whenever special guests arrived, but then the Friar had started wailing about they would never be finished in time! Pinkie Pie, without waiting for permission, had immediately volunteered to help, and picked up a bowl of dough that needed stirring to prove it. The Abbey creatures looked on in shock as she began mixing the dough, holding the spoon and bowl without the aide of fingers. Stifling a laugh, Celestia had asked what was next on the tour, and the Abbess had reluctantly agreed to continue the tour. As they moved on, they had heard Pinkie asking what else she could do to help. The ponies and dragon knew that she'd be fine.

Soon they had reached the second floor and entered the library, where they met the Abbey Recorder, who journaled every day to chronicle the events that took place in the area. She was also in charge of the library, the bookshelves of which Twilight had already become distracted by. As she and the Recorder struck up a conversation, Celestia and the Abbess had looked at each other and laughed, and the rest of the group had continued on the tour.

So now the only visitors left on the tour were Celestia, Luna, Fluttershy, and Rarity. Oh, and Spike the dragon, because of course; he was always looking for an opportunity to impress Rarity. Or to even be noticed by her.

Fluttershy returned her attention to the Abbess, who was saying something about the dormitories being used as a hospital long ago when a plague had ravaged the Abbey. The yellow pony shuddered. She hoped that they wouldn't have to worry about anything like _that_ during their stay here!

Suddenly, one of the doors leading off the hall opened, and a huge female badger stepped out to join them, ducking her head under the top of the doorjamb because she was so tall. Fluttershy felt her excitement falter even more. The badger looked down at her, intimidating, towering, and definitely _not_ smiling.

Fluttershy shrunk back against Princess Luna, who immediately understood and put a comforting wing around the timid Pegasus.


	2. Chapter 2

**Author's note (3/5/2018): I was asked in a review on chapter 1 of this fic when in the Redwall timeline does this story occur. It is taking place about a century after the last book in the series, which I think everyone agrees is _The Rogue Crew_ , chronologically speaking as per the events in the books. If someone gets the rights to write more Redwall books and they do tales that take place after _The Rogue Crew_ , then this crossover fic will take place a century after the latest of those books. All the Redwall characters you are going to meet in this story are my own creation.**

 **Thanks for reading so far, and I hope that you enjoy the rest of my narrative!**

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The Abbess turned and smiled to the badger. They were clothed in matching green habits (although the badger's was covered in peculiar stains), with tied brown cords as their belts.

The Abbey leader said, "I'm so glad you could join us, dear! I'm still showing our guests around our Abbey, although we've already lost some of the younger ones as they found places where they wanted to help, and creatures they wanted to learn from. But we still have Rarity, Fluttershy, and Spike with us, as well as Princess Luna and Princess Celestia," she added, pointing to each one of them in turn.

As the badger nodded her massive striped head in greeting to each of them, Fluttershy waved her front hoof a little, smiling. The Abbess had remembered her name! The pony had said almost nothing so far today, so she couldn't imagine how the Abbess had even remembered that she was there. Maybe it was because Fluttershy was kind of a bright shade of yellow; that made her hard to miss. But how had the Abbess remembered her name? Oh, maybe it was _because of_ the pony's timidity that had helped her remember, in addition to the trio of butterflies on Fluttershy's flank that made up her cutie mark.

But then again, she had remembered everyone else's names, too, so...

"...she is our Badger Mother, Caretaker of our Dibbuns." The Abbess had continued on with her introductions while Fluttershy had been lost in her thoughts.

The ponies and the dragon got confused looks on their faces, and Celestia asked, "I'm sorry, Dibbuns? I'm afraid I don't know that term."

The Abbess smiled as the Badger Mother answered in a rather deep and melodious voice, softly saying, "Ah, yes. We have had visitors from distant parts of our own world be a bit confused by that term. 'Dibbun' is the word we use when we are talking about our young ones." Fluttershy's ears perked. Celestia nodded. "Oh, I see. We ponies call our children fillies and colts."

"I like children," Fluttershy said quietly, surprising everyone. As they all looked at her, she shrunk back a bit, feeling slightly shy and intimidated. "I mean...I think they're fun," she continued hesitantly, looking at Rarity and Spike, who smiled at her encouragingly. The dragon gave her a thumbs up, which gave the yellow and pink pony the courage to add, "I sometimes babysit for my friends back in Equestria. I'd...I'd like to help with them...with the Dibbuns...later...maybe, if...if that's okay," she ended in a whisper, her forelock covering half of her face again as she cowered slightly under the badger's gaze.

As the badger hesitated, Luna stated, "Fluttershy is very gentle and responsible, and she's excellent with timid creatures." Rarity tossed a purple curl from her mane over her shoulder with a hoof and added, "Why, yes, darlings, I would trust Fluttershy with _anything_...er, as long as she didn't have to be loud, of course." Fluttershy perked up a little as the badger smiled at her. Spike pointed to his chest with his thumb and agreed with what Rarity had said. "Oh, I'd trust her, too! She's great, even with dragons!" As the Badger Mother and the Abbess chuckled at the dragon's words, Celestia quickly added, "But if you'd rather she didn't, that's quite understandable. Being in charge of children is a great responsibility, one that shouldn't necessarily be entrusted to strangers - unlike helping in the kitchens or the orchards."

As Fluttershy nodded in agreement, the Abbess merely waved a paw in the air. "Oh, I think it will be fine. What do you think?" She turned to the Badger Mother, who was rubbing her chin with a paw. "Well...we've gotten to know Princess Celestia quite well in the past few seasons, and if she says that this little pony is responsible enough to be in charge of young ones, I think we can trust her." She looked at Celestia, who nodded and said, "In regards to Fluttershy's character, I have to agree with my sister Luna, and Rarity and Spike."

Seemingly satisfied, the badger turned back to Abbess and added, "So I'd be alright with leaving Fluttershy with the Dibbuns for a little while. I'm mostly just worried about the DAB." The Abbey leader's smile was immediately replaced with a worried frown. "Oh, no, did they act up? I wouldn't put it past the DAB to misbehave on the day we have special guests."

Luna interrupted. "Excuse me, the DAB?" Fluttershy shrunk back against the night-coloured pony. Whatever the DAB was, it sounded dangerous.

The Badger Mother, however, just smiled and rested her paws on her hips. "DAB stands for Dibbuns Against Bedtime. They're a rather fanatical group of our little ones who are opposed to bedtime, bathtime, and schoolwork. They are mischievous and scheming little creatures who have a peculiar fascination with pillow fights. However," and she turned back to the Abbess, "the Dibbuns have all been behaving for the past few weeks, so we should be fine."

The Abbess's smile returned, and she visibly relaxed. Clapping her paws together once, she exclaimed, "It's settled, then! If it's alright with you, Princesses, and if Fluttershy would still like to, she may play with our Dibbuns for a bit." As the Badger Mother smiled warmly and nodded in agreement, Celestia and Luna turned to the little yellow pony. "Do you still want to?" Luna asked gently. When Fluttershy hesitated, Spike and Rarity piped up supportingly. "You should do it, Fluttershy! Think of all the fun you'll have!" "Yes, Lovey, you'll have a lovely time with all those cute little baby furries!" Smiling at her friends, the timid horse nodded. "I'd love to."

Celestia turned back to the Abbess as her sister gave Fluttershy a small hug. Everyone was smiling as the Sun Princess said, "Yes, that would be just fine. I'm sure Fluttershy and the Dibbuns will all have a wonderful time having fun with each other."

As Spike and Rarity hugged her, Fluttershy said quietly, "I'll do my best to give them a good time."

As her friends stood on either side of her, the little pony blinked and smiled as the Badger Mother gently patted her on the head with a paw that was almost the size of Fluttershy's whole face. "Oh, I'm sure it'll be fine," the Caretaker said in her rumbly voice. "They should have fun, and some of them will _adore_ the chance to play host. Or at least have somebeast new to talk to."

As the Abbess lead the rest of the rest of the group away, Spike, Luna, and Rarity called back their wishes of good luck, and Celestia added, "I'll be back in a little bit to check on you, don't worry. Have fun!"

Fluttershy waved to them, then looked up into the kindly face of the badger and asked, "What do I need to do?"

Instead of answering, she pointed at Fluttershy's back. "Do you mind my asking what's in your bags?" The pony looked at the saddlebags she was carrying. She had completely forgotten about them! "Oh, they just have my knitting supplies in them. I like to knit while I'm sitting and listening to other creatures talk, and I kept it with me just in case we were going to sit somewhere for a little bit."

The badger's eyes widened, and she looked at the pony's hooves. But all she said was, "Well, that's alright, then. The Dibbuns are used to seeing creatures knit. As for what you need to do," she continues, answering the pony's question, "is play with the Dibbuns and read a book or 2 if they want to hear a story, and just in general be a good friend." The badger chuckled and added, "Which, from what I hear, is something that you and your friends excel at."

Fluttershy grinned. "We try." The badger nodded her massive striped head. "Good. True friends who have good hearts are always welcome in Redwall."

Gesturing to the door she had come out of a few minutes before, the Dibbun Caretaker leaned down and whispered conspiratorially in the pony's ear, "There's a plate of cookies in a cupboard if you want to treat the little ones at some point." Standing back up, the badger continued in her normal tone, saying, "I'll come back before naptime, so you don't have to worry about that."

Fluttershy nodded, remembering that the DAB had a strong aversion to bedtime. She'd _definitely_ like to avoid having to deal with that! "Sounds great!"

The badger smiled, nodded, and turned to the door. As she opened it and walked into the room behind it, the pony took a deep breath, let it out slowly, and followed her inside.


	3. Chapter 3

"Ladies and gentlebeasts," the Badger Mother gently said in her deep voice.

The Dibbuns all looked in her direction, but their gazes were immediately arrested by the colourful pony at her side. They stared at her silently, their eyes wide as their Caretaker continued, "This is our new friend, Miss Fluttershy."

The Pegasus waved a hoof at the little ones and smiled, letting the badger continue talking. "She's going to stay in here with you guys for a little bit to play. I hope you will make her feel welcome here in Redwall, and show her our legendary hospitality. Do you think you can do that?"

Most of the Dibbuns nodded, with some quietly saying that they would. The one of the older ones raised a paw. "But why is Miss Fluttershy yellow an' pink?"

The badger got a stern look on her face, but before she could chastise the Dibbun, Fluttershy interrupted. "Oh, I just look like this because everypony where I come from is a different set of colours. Just like some of you are brown or gray, I'm yellow. I have a friend who is 2 different shades of pink, and another who is white and purple." A baby hare, just old enough to walk, toddled up to the pony and was listening very carefully, his gaze fixed on her face. Bending down, Fluttershy put her muzzle close to his nose. "But even though we all look different, we're all the same, deep down on the inside." The leveret burst into a fit of giggles and hid his face in his paws.

The Badger Mother smiled, looking immensely pleased. "Well, it looks like you've got this well under control, Miss Fluttershy." Turning to the Dibbuns, she added, "I'm going to go talk to the Mother Abbess and a couple of our other guests. Please be good for Miss Fluttershy. I'll be back soon to check on you." The majority of the Dibbuns nodded again and said, "Okay!"

The badger then slipped out of the room, leaving the pony alone with a room full of potentially mischievous children. But Fluttershy wasn't worried; she knew that the more time she spent in here, the less shy the Dibbuns would become. And neither the Badger Mother nor the Abbess were too concerned about the DAB, so she should be fine.

After giggling with the leveret again, the pony walked to the middle of the room, smiling at and saying "Hello!" to the Dibbuns she passed on the way. They had returned to their games, and most just seemed unsure of her, but she knew she could win them over. She'd just have to be patient.

Sitting on the floor in the center of the room, she discovered that the baby hare had followed her and was now gently playing with the curling end of her exceptionally long mane. As she began rummaging around in her saddlebags, a baby female goose walked up, dragging a light blue baby blanket behind her. As Fluttershy smiled at her, the gosling very seriously stated, "I Gracie. Me gotsa bwankie. Itsoft, _feew_ it!"

Fluttershy obliged, taking both hooves out of her saddlebag and stroking the proffered blanket. "Oh, wow, that _is_ soft! I bet it's wonderful to snuggle with." Gracie nodded and hugged her precious blanket close.

"Oh, no, please don't eat that!" The pony tugged her mane out of the leveret's paws. "I'm sorry, but my mane isn't food." The hare scowled darkly at her, a strand of pink hair dangling from his lips. Crossing his arms, he turned, took 3 steps, then plopped onto his bottom on the floor, pouting. He was obviously _quite_ upset with her.

Before Fluttershy could say anything to him, Gracie interrupted with another statement. "You gots wings wike _me_ do!" As she pointed a wingtip at the Pegasus's wings, a male squirrel who was almost old enough to be graduated out of the Dibbuns room and into the school room, came wandering up. "I've...I've heard of horses before, but I...I never seen one. They're rare, I think, and I'm pretty sure they don't have wings."

Fluttershy smiled and carefully spread her wings to their full extent, making sure to not scare anyone or knock anybody over. "It sounds like all you guys have here are what we call Earth Ponies where I come from. I'm a Pegasus, and all pegasi have wings, like birds do." "Do you _fwy_?!" Gracie asked excitedly. The pony's wings half folded as she hesitated. "Uh, well, I, uh..."

Fluttershy was interrupted (and possibly saved) by a trio of female mice who came dashing over. The pony just had enough time to register that each of them was clutching 5 picture books before the one who appeared to be the leader looked up at her with big brown eyes and asked, "Can you read?"

Fluttershy smiled. "Oh, yes, I love to read. Would you like for me to read those to you?" The mice gasped and nodded with delight. Setting their books at the pony's side, they all sat down in front of her. Grace and the male squirrel joined them, and even the leveret forgot why he was mad at the visitor and turned around. They a gazed expectantly at Fluttershy, who picked up the top book.

" _Martin the Warrior and the Disappearing Pies_. How about we start with this one?" As the Dibbuns nodded, Fluttershy made a mental note to ask the Badger Mother later if she could show this book to her friend Rainbow Dash. She was sure her Pegasus friend would like to hear anything relating to the famous mouse Warrior.

Opening the book, the pony started to read, making sure to let the Dibbuns see the pictures. She had to crane her neck a little bit, since she was holding it open to them, but it was worth it to see the attention they were giving her, and the fun they seemed to be having. More of the little ones stopped what they were doing and scooted over to join the group, listening intently.

But not all of the Dibbuns watching this scene were enjoying what they were seeing...


	4. Chapter 4

Squirrelbabe was notorious. Infamous, even. She was the Ringleader of the DAB, and had the reputation to prove it.

A caring woodlander had found her, lost in the vastness of Mossflower. Upon learning that the young one's parents and grandparents had been murdered by foxes, the woodlander had brought her to Redwall, and ever since her arrival at the Abbey, Squirrelbabe had wreaked pure havoc upon the nursery.

A natural leader, even at such a young age, she had most of the other Dibbuns listening to her and doing as she said, and even those she couldn't manipulate usually got so distracted by the chaos the DABers were able to create that they joined in with the mischievous shenanigans Squirrelbabe concocted. There was always that small group who never joined in, saying that stealing pies and chucking rocks around and playing in the mud and other things like that didn't constitute as "fun", but a majority of disobedient Dibbuns was always better than none at all, in the Ringleader's opinion. The group that Squirrelbabe detested was the one consisting of the too-good-for-their-own-good Dibbuns who were always telling the adults what naughty thing the DABers had done _this_ time. She was positive that they were adults in disguise, sent to spy on innocent children who just wanted to have fun! She didn't keep her thoughts of them a secret, either, but rather made sure that they heard her telling her fellow DAB members how she felt about them.

But for the most part, she was able to convince the other Dibbuns to go along with her schemes.

She may not have been the most popular of the Dibbuns, but she was the most feared.

Right as Fluttershy was reading the stack of books to the little crowd of Dibbuns sitting around her, Squirrelbabe was watching. Scowling slightly, she pretended to play with blocks, surrounded by some of her fellow Dibbuns Against Bedtime. "Jus' lookit da howsie, _weadin'_ books an' tellin' dat hawe what ta _do_!" Ignoring the fact that the Pegasus had asked, not told, the hare to not eat her hair earlier, the Ringleader grumpily knocked a stack of blocks over and continued, "Why da Badgew Muvvah leave _hew_ in chawge, anyway?! Dat no _faiw_!"

The other Dibbuns in her little group nodded as one whispered, "Yeah, but what can _we_ do? She bes a _guest_ , and da Baddga Muvvah said to be _good_ fo' her. If we not, what'll her and Muvvah Abbess to? Dey'll chop our _tails_ off an' turn us into _soup_!" Unaware that the Redwallers would _never_ do that to their precious young ones, no matter how naughty they were, the other Dibbuns shuddered and looked fearfully at the door, terrified that an adult might swoop in and punish them for even _thinking_ about being naughty.

Squirrelbabe, however, was not impressed and merely waved a paw airily. "Oh, I fink we bes fine." A wicked grin spread across her face. "Nobeast said we had to be _a'_ good. Asides, if we dos it right, da adultses won't evah finds out. So wes can has a _little_ fun. I gots an idea, listen..." The other Dibbuns leaned in, already caught up in her excitement. They forgot to even pretend to play when Squirrelbabe revealed her naughty plot.

Fluttershy had meanwhile finished reading all the books, and most of the Dibbuns (including the trio of mice who had started the storytime) had gone back to playing with toys throughout the room. The leveret had grabbed a book and was sitting on her back, flipping through it while he held it upside down. The gosling had grabbed a book and snuggled under the pony's wing, her blanket cuddled up to her bill. As she started looking at the book right side up, the male squirrel started telling the Pegasus _aaalllll_ about Redwall.

Fluttershy smiled encouragingly at him, nodding as she listened intently. After a few minutes, she pulled a purple bundle from out her bag. Unrolling it, she revealed that it was a sleeveless sweater front that started out black at the neck and faded to the palest of purples where the pony was working. After getting some more yarn off the skein, she picked up her knitting needles and set to work on the row she was on, asking her little storyteller about something he had said that she hadn't quite understood.

As she continued the pony-sized sweater piece, most of the Dibbuns had stopped what they were doing and were watching her in mild awe. Even Squirrelbabe was startled. How could she hang onto her project without the aide of fingers? They had no idea. The male squirrel just kept chattering on, though, ignoring the obvious mystery. He had someone new he could talk to! Why should he stop talking to address something as inconsequential as her knitting with hooves?

After a few minutes, Fluttershy started a new row of the sweater pattern, and most of the Dibbuns went back to what they had been doing. After a few more minutes and 2 more rows of knitting, she spread out the sweater to check her progress. Looking immensely pleased with it, she pulled her saddlebags around to in front of her and started digging around in them. "Wait, what did the Champion do to the Novices who stole the pies?" As the male squirrel expounded on what he had said, the Pegasus sneakily pulled a pair of sharp scissors out of her bag and cut a long tail off of the yarn she had been using, making sure to keep the scissors hidden by her bag. She then stuffed the lavender yarn in her bag and pulled out a skein of white yarn. After attaching the white yarn to the sweater, she quickly stowed her scissors deeply back in her bag.

She put her saddlebags back by her hip and continued knitting as the male squirrel chattered on. Fluttershy hoped that none of the other Dibbuns had noticed her scissors, and that nocreature got any ideas.

But her hopes were in vain, for Squirrelbabe had noticed the pony's secrecy and figured out what was going on. She rubbed her paws together gleefully as a few _dastardly_ ideas came to mind.

As Fluttershy continued to knit and the male squirrel continued to tell her things, the Ringleader nodded at the other DAB members, and the band of miscreants put the naughty plot into action.


	5. Chapter 5

As the main group of the Dibbuns Against Bedtime began to stealthily sneak behind the Pegasus, Squirrelbabe casually walked over and leaned on the male squirrel. As he stopped in mid-sentence and shoved her off of himself, she smiled sweetly and innocently asked, "Whatcha _ma_ kin'?"

Fluttershy, blissfully unaware of her impending doom, smiled in return and continued to knit. "I'm making a sweater for my friend Rarity as a surprise."

The Ringleader nodded and opened her mouth, but before any words could come out, Grace leaned around the pony and scowled. "Oh, noes you don't! Go 'way an' weave Miss Fwutter a _wone_!" Fluttershy stopped knitting and looked at the formerly sweet gosling, aghast. "Oh, Gracie, that's not a very nice thing to say!"

Squirrelbabe grinned wickedly and interrupted. "Yeah, dat wasn't nice. But neiver is dis! NOW!" The DABers who had been sneaking around behind the pony pounced on her, the older ones wielding some ropes that they had stolen a few months prior. The male squirrel was shoved back out of the way by a couple of the DABers who were his age, and when he saw what they were about to do, he yelled out, "No!" But nobeast listened to him. Gasping, Fluttershy dropped her knitting, spread her wings, and flapped them madly, sending Grace bowling tail over head away with one solid beat of her yellow wings. As the goose honked in alarm, the leveret fell from his perch on the pegasus's back and rolled a few feet away, where he sat up, covered his mouth with his paws, and watched in horror, whimpering a little.

The pony tried desperately to escape, but the DAB overwhelmed her. As the younger ones weighted her down and held her wings still, the older members tied the ropes around her legs. They all jumped back, leaving Fluttershy laying on her left side, her wing squashed under her body at an uncomfortable angle. As she struggled in vain to turn onto her stomach so she could fly away, she found herself wishing that she was a unicorn so she could simply use magic to teleport herself to safety or to untie the ropes that were holding her still.

"Why are you guys doing this?" she asked the smiling Squirrelbabe in a panicked voice. "I just want to be your friend! Why would you tie me up like this?"

The Ringleader took a step forward and clasped her paws behind her back. Leaning forward, she brought her beaming muzzle close to the pony's nose and said pleasantly, "'Cause we da DAB, and we no likes it when a stwangew twies to tell us what ta _do_."

Gasping in horror, Fluttershy jerked her head back and did the only sensible thing a creature in her position could do: taking a deep breath, she called out in a rather loud voice, "Help!" Every single one of the Dibbuns jumped; they had all come to the understanding that Fluttershy was naturally gentle and very soft-spoken. Frantically looking around her as the pony yelled again, Squirrelbabe spied a patchwork quilt that had been pulled off of one of the beds and was laying on the floor nearby. Grabbing it, she threw its heaviness onto the panicking Pegasus, and every part of her was covered by it except for the last half of her exceptionally long pink tail. A muffled "Help," was heard, but every creature in the room knew that they pony was now well and truly stuck. Sniffling slightly, Fluttershy shifted a little under the blanket; just because her wings were weighted down so she couldn't fly didn't mean she had to be lying on her left one.

As Squirrelbabe led the DABers in a cheer and ordered them to search the room for anything fun (and edible), Grace picked herself up off the floor and waddled over, security blanket in tow. The Ringleader was rubbing her paws together gleefully when the gosling pointed an accusing wing tip at her. "You a bad, _naughty_ cweature!" As the squirrel glared at her, Grace stomped a webbed foot and honked, "How _dares_ you dos dat to Miss Fwutter?! She bes a Abbey _guest_! Da Badgah Muvver's gonna cut off you _tail_ and tan you _hide_ wif it!"

Leaning forward, Squirrelbabe saucily said, "Oh, noes, she won'ts! She nevvah gonna finds out!" Grace hugged her blanket close and straightened to her full (yet still diminutive) height. "Oh, yeah she wiwws. I's gonna _teww_ 'er!"

As the gosling, with great dignity, turned resolutely towards the door that lead to the hall, Squirrelbabe growled with undeniable conviction and fury, "Oh, noes you don'ts!" Reaching out, she grabbed Grace by one wing and pulled her back. Honking with alarm, the goose tried to pull free, but quickly discovered that the squirrel was stronger than she was. As the DAB leader dragged her towards the covered pony, the gosling grabbed her captor's ear with her bill and yanked on it. Screaming in pain, Squirrelbabe kicked Grace's leg, which caused her to release the ear. Livid, she let go of the wing and kicked the goose again, then picked up an edge of the quilt and shoved the gosling and her blanket underneath it. As Fluttershy gently scooped her close with a wing, Gracie hugged her blanket to her chest, buried her face in the pony's shoulder, and cried.

Still furious, Squirrelbabe walked around her captives to Fluttershy's saddlebags. As she opened one of the bags and started rummaging around in it, the older male squirrel stalked up to her, his paws curled into fists and his tail sticking straight up in the air behind him, resembling a fluffy, poufy flagpole. "What's _wrong_ with you?!" He yelled at the Ringleader, who just gave him an irritated look and continued to rummage around in the bags. As a couple of other DAB members joined her, the male squirrel shook a fist in her face. "How could you _do_ something so...so...wicked an' bad an' evil! Miss Fluttershy is a _guest_ , an' you just treated her like...like you're a vermin or somethin'!" Squirrelbabe scowled at him and took a step back, hiding something she got out of Fluttershy's bag behind her back. The male squirrel followed. "An' Gracie isn't as strong or big as you! How could you be so _mean_?! You're such a bully! _I'm_ gonna tell the _Abbess_!"

Squirrelbabe chose this moment to pull the thing out from behind her back. The male squirrel yelped as he discovered the pony's sharp scissors were being held directly beneath his nose. "You hush you face or I wiww make you tail look like a wat's tail!" As the male squirrel, fully aware of how dangerous sharp scissors could be, put his paws up defensively and started backing away, Squirrelbabe started opening and closing them. She advanced, and he continued his backwards retreat until he tripped over a toy and fell to the floor, his shoulder smacking painfully into a bed's footboard.

The Ringleader stood over him, brandishing the scissors mere inches away from his nose. "You's gonna stay _wight hewe_ , owr I'ms gonna cut you _eaws_ off! Gottit?" Hugging his tail close to him the way Grace held her blankie, the male squirrel nodded fearfully, his wide eyes moving as he kept his gaze on the scissors she was waving uncomfortable close to his face.

Squirrelbabe nodded. "Good!"

Turning, she watched as one of the Dibbuns Against Bedtime pulled the ball of violet yarn out of the saddlebags. After turning it over in his paws a couple of times, he tossed it to a nearby kitten. The young cat's gaze locked onto the rolling ball with the speed and ferocity of an instinctive hunter. She wiggled a little bit, then pounced on the ball! Mewling gleefully, she began to bat it around the room, having too much fun to worry about how clumsy she was. All the other Dibbuns stayed out of her way, not wanting to get clawed on accident.

Squirrelbabe smiled and turned towards a slight commotion that erupted over by the cabinets. The small group of Dibbuns over there had discovered something wonderful: "Cookies!" They held up the plate that the Badger Mother had secretly told Fluttershy she could give them at some point.

Clapping her paws (and threatening to jab herself in the face with the scissors she was still holding), the Ringleader said, "Hooray!" "Mesome! Mesome!" The leveret bounced up and down on the balls of his large feet, waving his paws in the air, having completely forgotten any fear or sorrow he had had over the pony's predicament and the chaos around him at the sight of food.

Squirrelbabe looked at him and thought quickly. "Evewybeast gets _1_ cookie, den _he_ gets da west!" As some of the other Dibbuns started voicing their displeasure, the leader scowled at them and said in a manner that indicated that the others _really_ should've figured it out on their own, "He's a _hawe_ ; if he don't gets lots an' lotsa food, he gonna _cwy_ an' bwing da _gwown ups_ in hewe, and den we'll _a'_ be in twoubles!" The other Dibbuns gasped and immediately followed her orders.

After they all had eaten their cookies, they began to play again. Squirrelbabe smiled with satisfaction. Sitting down, she grabbed a blanket and started using Fluttershy's scissors to cut it into strips.

After a while, she had the entire blanket cut up and, setting the scissors on the floor, she grabbed 2 strips and looked around the room. The Dibbuns she was most concerned about were Grace and the male squirrel. The gosling was still under the quilt with Fluttershy, and the squirrel was sitting where the Ringleader had left him, hugging his knees to his chest and rocking slightly as tears trickled down his cheeks from his fear-widened eyes.

Some other Dibbuns had gotten into the painting supplies and made a _huge_ (albeit very colourful) mess underneath one of the windows. Paint covered the Dibbuns, the floor, and the wall; even the glass of the window had some paint splatters on the very bottom of it. They were trying to wipe the paint off of each other with their clothes, but it wasn't working very well.

A couple of Dibbuns were arguing over near the toy chests, and they suddenly picked up pillows and started smacking at each other. Nearby Dibbuns squealed and grabbed more pillows, joining the fray. They hadn't been involved in the original dispute, but they had no qualms about turning it into a full-blown pillow fight! Laughter, shouts of anger, and high-pitched battle cries could be heard from the growing crowd.

The leveret had just finished his last cookie and was skipping around the room, waving the book he had been looking at earlier above his head as if it were a banner. Squirrelbabe cringed; she had forgotten that he got sugar highs very easily. Oh, well. Too late now. Her cringe deepened as he started ripping pages out of the book and eating them. She wasn't a fan of reading, but she also didn't exactly approve of _eating_ books, either.

A frantic meow drew her attention to another part of the room, where the kitten had gotten herself tangled up in the ball of yarn. The trio of mice who had started the story time with Fluttershy earlier rushed over and started trying to help untangle the kitten, who had started crying from fear.

The rest of the Dibbuns were playing calmly, trying to avoid the rocks and stale scones that were being thrown by the pillow fighters. A few were looking at books under the beds.

Squirrelbabe sighed. Of course there were some _reading_. That was better than _eating_ the books, she guessed. Looking back at her blanket strips, she started tying the ends of them together. Her plan was to make a rope to use to escape the Dibbun's room later that night.

But her plans suddenly went awry, as, indeed, did the plan of almost every other Dibbun in the room.

They all gasped, turned towards the hallway, and froze as the door leading out to it creaked open...


	6. Chapter 6

In the doorway leading from the Dibbun's room to the hallway stood the Abbess, blatantly horrified. Behind her was Princess Celestia, whose mouth was open in an O shape, her eyes wide with shock. Rounding out the trio was the Badger Mother, who was standing next to the Princess. Her mouth was set in a hard line, and her eyes flashed with fury.

The Abbess released her hold on the door handle and shrieked, "What in the seasons have you done?!"

Squirrelbabe, thinking quickly, covered the scissors she had been using with the strips of the blanket that she had chopped up and stood up on her feet. Adopting an innocent look, she asked sweetly, "Whatcha _mean_? We just playin'." She looked from one adult to another, withstanding the badger's withering glare.

"Help!"

The Ringleader winced and looked at the quilt on the floor. The back half of Fluttershy's tail was still poking out from underneath it, testifying to the mischief the DABers had gotten into. "Please help!" came the sound of Fluttershy's voice again from underneath the blanket. Squirrelbabe cringed as dread filled her tiny body.

As the adults entered the room, the male squirrel, courage bolstered by their presence, stood up and pointed at the DAB leader. "It was all _her_ idea!" he exclaimed, then shrunk back as she glared at him. After hesitating a moment, he continued, looking up into the Badger Mother's face. "She an' the other DABers tied up Miss Fluttershy an' covered her with that quilt, an' they made a huge mess, an' ate all the cookies, an'...an'...an' _she_ kicked Gracie, an' stole Miss Fluttershy's _scissors_ and threatened to cut my _ears_ off with 'em!"

The Abbess spotted the baby hare and rushed over to him. Grabbing him, she fished paper out of his mouth and confiscated the book. As he started screaming and thrashing wildly in her arms, the badger glared balefully at Squirrelbabe, who was equal parts furious and frightened. The rest of the Dibbuns stood around miserably, fully aware that they were in very serious trouble. Even the ones who weren't fully involved were going to be punished for just standing by while an Abbey guest was mistreated. That was not the Redwall way, and they understood that. Yet they had done _nothing_.

The Badger Mother ordered the Dibbuns who had made the paint mess by the window to start mopping it up with rags from the cabinet, and she commanded Squirrelbabe to help. As the Ringleader stalked over to the area, not daring to disobey the badger outright, the Dibbun Caretaker knelt down and started trying to untangle the kitten from Fluttershy's yarn. The 3 mice who had started the story time earlier came over to "help".

Celestia walked over to the quilt and activated the magic in her horn. As a golden aura surrounded both her horn and the quilt, all the Abbey creatures in the room stopped what they were doing and watched her with awe and a touch of jealousy. The heavy blanket lifted up into the air, revealing a teary-eyed Fluttershy who had a frightened Grace, who was clutching her blanket, under her wing.

As the winged unicorn set the quilt on the floor and smiled at the gosling, the bird shrunk back against the yellow Pegasus. Fluttershy brought her muzzle down close to Gracie's head and whispered, "It's okay, this is just Princess Celestia. She's very nice." The goose looked up into Fluttershy's blue eyes, then sniffled and stood. The Princess leaned down and told the trembling gosling, "It's alright, no one is going to hurt you anymore. We're here now. If you'll step over here, I'll untie Miss Fluttershy's ropes, and then we can leave and go somewhere else in your Abbey. Okay?" The goose gazed into Celestia's face, then nodded and stepped to one side.

Celestia turned her attention and magic to the ropes holding the Pegasus still, and after a few moments the knots came undone and the ropes fell to the floor. Fluttershy stood up on her hooves and stretched her legs, then her wings. Turning to look at Squirrelbabe, she said sadly, "Why did you tie me up like that? We could've had so much fun together, but now...now you're in trouble. Why did you do that?"

The DAB Ringleader scowled and looked away, mopping up more paint and refusing to answer.

The Abbess handed the thrashing leveret to the Badger Mother and approached the Alicorn Princess. "Oh, Celestia, and Fluttershy, I am so sorry," she said as the mouse Dibbuns continued trying to untangle the kitten. "We had _no_ idea that the little ones would choose _today_ of _all_ days to misbehave. Why don't you 2 take Grace down to the orchards while the rest of the Dibbuns help clean up this mess?"

"Hey, can...can I go, too?" The male squirrel piped up. The Badger Mother looked over from where she sat on the floor holding the crying harebabe. "Yes, you can go with them, just stay clean. _You_ ," she growled, pointing at the DAB Ringleader. "Keep cleaning up. I have some words to say to you when you're done."

As Squirrelbabe continued to miserably help clean up the paint, Celestia led the male squirrel, Grace, and Fluttershy out of the room. The rest of the Dibbuns began to clean up the rest of the room while the Abbess kneeled and started working on untangling the kitten, who was crying sadly. Some the Dibbuns started sniffling when the adults informed them that they were absolutely getting baths, more chores, an early bedtime, and no desserts for a week.

After a few minutes, the Abbey leader managed to untangle the young cat from the yarn. Picking up the yarn and the pony's scissors, she put them in Fluttershy's saddlebags. Taking the bags to the door, she stopped a passing Novice and had him take them to the room that the yellow Pegasus was going to be sleeping in.

When he had left to do that task, Squirrelbabe hopped up to the windowsill and started cleaning paint off the glass. And there, crossing the Abbey lawn below, she spotted the male squirrel and Grace trailing behind the 2 winged ponies. Rage filled her. That was so unfair that _they_ got to go off and play in the orchards while _she_ and the other Dibbuns had to stay up here and _clean_. A scowl furrowed her brow. All they had wanted was to have some fun, and look what's happened to them instead!

Her scowl deepened as she glared at Fluttershy. If _she_ hadn't been left in charge, the DAB could have gotten away with their mischief and no one would have been the wiser! In her Dibbun mind, which had been harmed by the horrors she saw when her family had been killed in the woods, Squirrelbabe didn't understand that it was her fault, and the fault of the other Dibbuns. She was only able to blame the yellow Pegasus, and the Abbess and the Badger Mother.

And as she watched Fluttershy's pink tail disappear beneath the trees that made up the orchards, she made a silent vow: Until next time, little pony.

Until next time...

* * *

 **THE END**

 **Thanks for reading! I hope you enjoyed reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it.**


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